The Elon University senior received a Community Impact Student Award on Nov. 2, 2013, during the statewide organization's annual student conference in Charlotte, N.C.
The statewide association of colleges and universities committed to fostering campus-community engagement each year recognizes one outstanding student on each campus for making a difference in the community. Gorang was one of 19 students across North Carolina to be honored.
At Elon, Gorang served as a Leader in Collaborative Service (LINCS) for Cummings High School, a Title I school in nearby Burlington. She recruited, trained, and coordinated 25 Elon students to tutor at-risk high schoolers, coordinated the Cinderella Project that, among other activities, provides prom dresses for 50 low-income students, and she established a partnership with Elon’s Handmade Workshop, giving Cummings students a chance to learn about entrepreneurship as they sell their own artwork and handicrafts.
A human service studies major and communications minor, Gorang is from Salt Lake City.
“Eryn has helped create sustainable programs that improve the leadership, education, and financial stability of Cummings high school students. It’s really become a mutually beneficial and collaborative relationship,” said Mary Morrison, director of the Kernodle Center for Serivce-Learning and Community Engagement, the office that manages the LINCS program.
More than 175 student leaders from 27 campuses in three states attend the Compact’s Nov. 2 conference at Central Piedmont Community College where several Elon students lead workshops. Gorang teamed with fellow Elon seniors Mathew Goldberg and Samantha Italiano to share lessons learned from the Cummings partnership in a session titled “Dig Deeper: Take Your Community Partnerships to the Next Level.”
Elon junior Yasmine Arrington was featured as a student “changemaker.” Arrington delivered a plenary message and a workshop based on her experience founding the non-profit ScholarCHIPS, which helps fund higher education for children of incarcerated parents.
North Carolina Campus Compact is a statewide association of nearly 40 colleges and universities that seek to develop civically-engaged students and strengthen communities. Presidents and chancellors commit their institutions to being “engaged campuses” that enhance a student’s sense of responsibility, citizenship, and leadership, and impact the community by partnering with local organizations to address real needs.
For more information about the Compact or the student conference, visit www.nccampuscompact.org.